A Livermore woman was arrested Thursday afternoon on charges of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated stemming from the late-night rollover crash just outside Pleasanton on Thanksgiving eve that killed two people, including a Village High School student.

Lauren April Davis, 26, was taken into custody without incident at a Livermore home at 3:35 p.m. on an arrest warrant issued following a two-month investigation, according to California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officer Tyler Hahn. She was booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with a no-bail order.

Authorities allege Davis was drunk behind the wheel of a Kia Sorrento with four passengers on Nov. 22 around 11:45 p.m. when the Kia veered off westbound Stanley Boulevard just west of Isabel Avenue/Highway 84, flipped several times and ended up north of Stanley.

Violet Campbell, a 16-year-old Village High School student, died at the scene after being partially ejected from the Sorrento, Hahn reported at the time.

A second passenger, 25-year-old Alexys Garcia of Livermore, sustained serious injuries and was transported to a nearby hospital, where she died one week later on Nov. 29.

Two more passengers -- young men, ages 18 and 22 -- were taken to the hospital with minor and moderate injuries, respectively.

"The California Highway Patrol is committed to ensuring that drunk and drug-impaired drivers are removed from our highways," said Capt. Christopher Sherry, commander of the CHP-Dublin office. "We are dedicated to preventing DUI-related tragedies. We will continue to support both the Campbell and Garcia families as this case proceeds through the judicial system."

Officers who responded to the crash reported Davis smelled of alcohol, according to Hahn. She refused all field sobriety tests that night, but toxicology testing later found her blood-alcohol content was twice the legal limit for driving, the officer added.

Davis had been arrested for driving under the influence twice prior to the fatal crash, according to Hahn. In both cases the charges were reduced to reckless driving. Her driver's license was valid at the time of the crash, Hahn said.

Davis was placed under arrest on the night of the fatal crash but released from jail custody while officers worked to complete their investigation, which included getting a toxicology report on Davis, obtaining witness statements and reviewing footage from surveillance cameras in the area.

Officers from the CHP Dublin Area and Golden Gate Division wrapped up the investigation last month and presented their findings to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office for review Jan. 16, Hahn said.

Prosecutors ultimately charged Davis with murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for the deaths of Campbell and Garcia, with an arrest warrant issued Thursday, Hahn said. She is expected to appear in court for arraignment next week.

Comments

20 people like this

Posted by Relieved
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2018 at 9:19 am

This is good news. Get her off our streets and behind bars where she belongs.

@Relieved - Forgive me but I don't feel we should celebrate her going to prison. Now before you flip out, all I mean is that 3 lives have been lost. I don't believe her intent was to kill these passengers. None the less, she needs punishment, far to serious and heartbreaking.....I wonder how many of "us" on these threads were a bit reckless when younger...AGAIN, not defending just saying 3 lives were ruined. RIP young ladies that passed :(

Posted by Relieved
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 9, 2018 at 11:19 am

kat - Three lives??? Are you forgetting about the families of the girls she killed? She drove drunk MULTIPLE times before this; she deliberately got behind the wheel when she was blind drunk; twice the legal limit; she is 26 years old; not a kid. And by the way, I don't drink, so I never did anything like this when I was young and I don't know anyone who did. I guess you think we should invite her in, give her cocoa, a hug and a coloring book and tell her everything's gonna be alright! I don't CARE if her life is ruined; she deserves for her life to be ruined. She killed two people; do you really think she should get a slap on the wrist and then be let loose on our streets again??!!! She needs to go away for good; I don't want her on our roads and I don't want her "putting this behind her" and living a good life. She doesn't deserve that. Face it; she's a murderer who knew better, but just didn't care. Maybe if she killed your daughter, you might feel differently. I am tired of criminals getting a token sentence and being released. Time for justice.

This is a tragedy all the way around. I just ask that you be respectful of any and all comments on this site since the families and friends of all involved will see this and it only opens the wounds more.

Posted by Really
a resident of Amador Estates
on Feb 9, 2018 at 12:44 pm

HT, are you trying to get us to feel sorry for this drunken loser? Maybe her "family and friends" should have tried to stop her from drinking and driving, including doing an intervention, taking away her keys and calling the police on her. Did they do any of that, since you intimate that you know them. If not, they bear responsibility also. If that was my kid, I would have done anything/everything I could to make sure she/he didn't kill anybody with her/his drinking. I think your sympathy is wasted when it's placed with a women who drove drunk multiple times and didn't stop until she killed two people. If she hadn't been caught, she probably wouldn't have stopped at all.

Posted by Reality Check
a resident of Vineyard Hills
on Feb 9, 2018 at 3:14 pm

Relieved, I'm with you and Kat, it makes not difference at all what her 'intention' was. The fact is she'd been arrested for DUI twice before and because she had a good lawyer got them reduced to reckless. Whatever judge reduced the second one to reckless is part of the problem. She never had serious consequences for her actions besides a slap on the wrist and a financial impact and this is the result.
I don't think anyone is 'celebrating' to use your words, her going to prison however I am very glad that she is going away and getting off of our roads. Also were YOU reckless as a young person? I mean you asked how many of 'us' had been. You are definitely defending her in your own way. No I can honestly say I never drove under the influence at twice the legal limit, no. She is getting exactly what she deserves. If this had been a young man, or how about a young man of color, I wonder if YOU would be so quick to jump to 'his' defense.

"Davis had been arrested for driving under the influence twice prior to the fatal crash, according to Hahn. In both cases the charges were reduced to reckless driving."

Not sure what happened here with these two previous cases. OK, maybe for some reason she was given a break on her first DUI. But why would any prosecutor give a break to a young person facing a second DUI case before the age of 26? Seems that that was the time to send the young person a strong message. Seems it was a missed opportunity to put her on the right track. So now here we are with two dead due to a driver who has been driving drunk behind the wheel at least three times before she even turned 26. This was an accident waiting to happen.

She was previously caught two of her previous times driving drunk and neither of the penalties imposed on her had any impact on her future actions. The prosecutor and judge who let her off the hook the second time are highly culpable in this matter. We as a society are still way too tolerant of these incidents and are too slow to learn that leniency doesn't have the effect of solving the long term problem with most people. I'm sorry for the loss and for the relatives who have to live without their children.

Posted by Justice process
a resident of Laguna Oaks
on Feb 10, 2018 at 2:21 am

She hasn't even been arraigned yet, people--she's a long way from sentencing and prison. I certainly hope the prosecutor and judge in the case get justice for all of her victims and the families she destroyed.

Posted by Reno
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Feb 13, 2018 at 10:33 amReno is a registered user.

Not excusing anyone for anything, but I wonder how many of you have ever dealt with a real alcoholic? It is an insidious addiction that takes people over and owns them, just like heroin. They will do /say anything, while having the best intentions. They will feel remorse, try everything to quit. Some quit, but the rate of recidivism is high. They may promise themselves every day that they will quit tomorrow.
Our society encourages people to drink,it is way too accepted in our society. I know cops who have driven drunk. Most who drink will do it sooner or later.
I highly recommend AA, it works if you work it. Court often sends people to AA, but if they are not ready to quit, or still believe they can drink like normal people, it won't work.
If you know anyone with a drinking problem, convince them to go to AA and get a sponsor. Lives can be saved.

Posted by Silverfox
a resident of Castlewood
on Feb 13, 2018 at 7:37 pmSilverfox is a registered user.

Lauren was arraigned today-The Alameda County District Attorney’s office said 26-year-old Lauren Davis has been charged with two counts of murder with special enhancements, gross vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence and other counts.